


Venera Markova -- Hero of the Cosmos

by AXEe



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Outer Space, Soviet Union, retrofuturism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2020-08-11 10:17:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20152012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AXEe/pseuds/AXEe
Summary: The USSR, 1975, A.D.   Following the successful flight and safe return of Laika, the first living creature in space in November of 1957, a new era of peace and cooperation unfolded for the human race.   The scientific triumph of Laika's flight ushered in a growing spirit of coopeation between the varied nations of Earth.   The Berlin Wall was dismantled as a series of reforms swept through both the USSR and the USA, leading to the creation of two separated, but assocated power blocs, the 'Eastern Bloc', led by the USSR, and the 'Western Alliance', led by the USA, with a rebuilt United Kingdom as a third power in its own right by 1960 with the first human spaceflight undertaken by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and American astronaut John Glenn, and by 1969, colonies had been established on the Moon and MarsBut now, that peace is threatened.The first successful trans-Jupiter flight led by Soviet pilot Venera Markova resulted in the discovery of life out among the stars, an entire civilization living among the various moons of Jupiter.   Now, these 'Jovians' as they are known, seek to conquer our planet and only one woman stands in their way.    Venera Markova





	1. Dossiar

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! More original work from me! This time we're going old-school, retro, Buck Rogers-style with a Soviet twist! So prepare for a world where the Soviet Union actually _worked_ as intended and filled with aliens! Rayguns! Robots! Rocketships! And computers as big as a room!
> 
> Enjoy! :=)

******

**SOYUZCOSMOS PERSONNEL FILE: Colonel Venera Markova.**

Colonel **Venera Markova**, cosmonaut for Souyzcosmos State Corporation for Space Activities (Soyuzcosmos)

**Notable achievements:**

• Graduated from University of New Leningrad, Luna with honors and a degree in aeronautics.  
• Recipient of the title of ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’ for successfully petitioning for the joint Apollo-Soyuz trans-Venusian flyby mission.  
• Jointly awarded American Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal for successful completion of same mission.  
• Successfully piloted spacecraft **Zarya 12** on first manned trans-Jupiter flight.  
• Made first contact with the varied species inhabiting the Jovian moons.

**Addendum as of 1979**

Col. Markova was injured during reentry of Zarya 12 due to failure of parachute to properly deploy (Jovian sabotage is suspected). Injuries included: shattered skull requiring cellular bonding of aluminum plate. Severe damage to both arms and both legs, requiring amputation and replacement with advanced bionic prostheses. Punctured heart requiring replacement with artificial heart (artificial heart was combined with compact type-B metallic hydrogen particle reactor to power bionic prostheses).

Following her recovery, Col. Markova was granted reinstatement into Soyuzcosmos and has served on the frontlines of the current and on-going Earth—Jovian conflict.

**PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE**

Colonel Markova has displayed a high degree of skill, having flown virtually all test and experiment craft for both Soyuzcosmos and the Soviet Air Forces, as well as being the pilot of both the Apollo-Soyuz missions and the trans-Jupiter flyby.

Following her crash-landing in 1969, Col. Markova underwent extensive physical therapy and training on the use of her new prosthetic limbs, during which she gave testimony before the Politburo on the growing Jovian threat amid ever-increasing incursions by Jovian craft of both Soviet airspace and the airspace of associated nations.

A member of the Party and a former member of the Komsomol, Col. Markova has regularly declined the privileges offered to Party members.

**FILE ENDS...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Historical note: In real life the Soviet Union did not have a unified government space agency, which is why they 'lost' the Space Race, since the various design bureaus not only competed with each other but often had no idea what the others were doing, unlike NASA, where everything was all done under the umbrella of one single organization


	2. Freefall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter TWO Enjoy comrades! :=)

******

**Cape Kennedy, Florida  
United States, Western Alliance**

The interior of the cargo plane was familiar to Venera, she had trained on dozens of planes just like this one during her time with the Air Force before she was accepted into Soyuzcosmos.

Absently tugging her collar up, she looked around the cargo bay at the rest of her team. There were eight of them in total, four Soviets and four Americans, with a ninth British officer serving as an observer.

“_Colonel,_” the pilot suddenly called “_we’re over the drop point_”

“Understood,” Venera called back “any sign of Jovian troops?”

“_None on the ground, but there are several Jovian saucers on an intercept course_” the pilot replied.

“Acknowledged,” Venera replied. Standing up, she gestured towards the rest of the team “get ready” she ordered, repeating the order in English.

Securing her parachute and helmet, Venera took a steadying breath as the bay was suddenly awash in dim, red lighting before rear door slowly opened, the endless expanse of blue sky almost blinding in contrast to the darkened interior of the plane.

Stepping up to the edge of the bay’s floor, Venera glanced up, watching as the lone red light above the door suddenly changed to green as a loud grating klaxon sounded out.

Pushing off, Venera leapt out of the plane, the rest of the team following one by one.

Shifting her body into positon, Venera oriented herself down, pulling her arms tight against her sides as she suddenly rocketed forward head first towards the ground, the massive sprawl of the NASA Launch Operations Center spreading out before her as the wind tore at her flight suit as several silvery disks flitted in and around the complex, bright bolts of blue-white raining down to set parts of the complex alight.

Changing direction, Venera oriented herself towards one of the nearest launch towers, the white conical spear of a Saturn V rocket jutting up towards her as the tower grew closer and closer.

Grunting, she deployed her chute, grimacing at the sudden jerk as she was bodily pulled in the opposite direction, her head now suddenly the right way round as her feet dangled above the tower.

Gripping the straps of her chute, she franticly steered herself as close to the tower as possible, swinging out with one arm and successfully grabbing onto part of the structure, even as her chute continued to billow out behind her, threatening to pull her away.

Flailing out with her free arm, she managed to grab onto the large disc-shaped control pad, slapping her hand against it. Instantly, her parachute retracted, folding back up into the hard-shelled pack on her back.

Now no longer in danger of being pulled off the tower, she frantically gripped the edge of the structure with both hands and swung herself up and then through the gaps in the metal framework and onto the narrow catwalk.

As soon as her boots touched the metal grating a lumbering figure suddenly charged her. Dressed in a bulky suit of full armor, the figure resembled an antique diving suit with the exception of the transparent, egg-shaped helmet, which revealed the decidedly non-human features of the suit’s occupant.

A Hath. Originating from icy depths of the watery moon of Europa, the aquatic, shark-like Hath were the foot soldiers of the Jovians, part foot soldiers and part cannon fodder, their great strength and size compared to most Humans served them well in this capacity.

Bearing its teeth at her from within the water-filled helmet, the Hath grabbed Venera around the waist and slammed her against part of the structure. Grimacing at the impact, she fumbled for her sidearm, successfully pulling the small ray pistol free only for the Hath to knock it out of her hand, the pistol clattered against the grating as it bounced away and out of her reach.

Grunting, Venera drew her still-free arm back and slammed her fist against the creature’s helmet. The transparent substance resembled glass only in function, in reality it was almost as strong as steel, able to withstand a full barrage of automatic weapons’ fire a point-blank range, and so an attempt to try to punch through it would, typically, only result in a broken hand.

But Venera’s hand, and indeed both of her arms and legs, were far from normal.

The advanced prosthesis easily slammed into the transparency, cracking it. Startled, the Hath released her, staggering back. Lunging, Venera leapt up, slamming her fist into the transparency again in a wide, sweeping motion.

This time, the transparency broke.

A small hole, about the size of an orange suddenly appeared, water spilling out of the helmet in a bubbling stream. Panicked, the Hath stumbled away from her, it’s small, three-fingered hands frantically struggling to stem the flow as its precious life-support rapidly drained out, the rest of the suit visibly starting to sag as the water drained out of it.

Retrieving her pistol, Venera aimed it at the Hath, firing once, killing it and ending its life quickly. She was many things, but she didn’t wish anyone, even an enemy, to suffer.

A muted roar had her turning, yelling in shock and rage as another Hath suddenly slammed into her, the railing of the catwalk breaking free as they both collided with it, sending them both tumbling off the tower to plummet down towards the ground…

“_Simulation terminated_”

Venera gasped as she jerked in the interface chair, panting harshly for breath as the image of the lab blurred before her eyes as she came back to reality.

“_Congratulations, Colonel,_” the director’s voice chuckled dryly over the intercom “_you’re dead_”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The NASA Launch Operations Center was the original name for the Kennedy Space Center


	3. Star City

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're BACK! My original work "Venera Markova--Hero of the Cosmos" is back! Enjoy! :=)

******

**Baikonur Cosmodrome  
Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic  
1975…**  


Venera Markova rubbed tiredly at her face as the technicians disconnected her from the artificial reality chair. Swinging her legs out, she slowly stood up, wobbling slightly before catching herself.

“Colonel?” one of the technicians reached out, gently taking her arm to steady her.

“I’m all right,” Venera dismissed “just a little dizzy”

Frowning, the technician eased her back down into the artificial reality chair and produced a penlight, shining it into Venera’s eyes before signaling to a nearby nurse, who came over and double-checked the technician’s findings. Nodding, the nurse stepped back.

“You’re fit to return to duty, Colonel,” she explained “but if you start feeling strange go to the infirmary” she advised.

“Understood,” pushing off the chair, Venera stood up, absently flexing her arms. The prosthetics, although mimicking the functionality of a biological limb almost-perfectly could not replicate the tone and texture of human skin (at least not yet), as a result, the limb resembled a black and silver copy of the musculature and sinew found beneath a person’s skin.

Watching as the artificial muscle flexed, Venera started as a pair of boots entered her field of vision. Looking up at their owner, she bolted upright, standing at attention.

“Director” she acknowledged.

Soyuzcosmos Director Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, famous for being one of the first human beings alongside American astronaut John Glenn to leave the surface of the Earth and enter space, nodded for her stand at ease.

“Colonel,” he returned her salute before nodding towards the artificial reality chair “what’s your opinion of the simulation?” he asked.

“Very life-like,” Venera remarked “I almost convinced that I was falling to my death”

“Well, that’s the point of the whole endeavor,” Director Gagarin explained “new recruits can undergo training without risk of injury or loss of life”

“Very admirable, sir,” Venera remarked “a British invention isn’t it?”

“That’s right,” Director Gagarin nodded “so, you think we can begin implementation?” he asked.

“I do, sir,” Venera nodded “but,” she began “perhaps some…caution at first?” she suggested.

The director nodded.

“I agree,” he smiled “well, Dr. Korolev wants to see you, so I’d best leave you to it”

“Thank you, Director” Venera nodded as he turned and left the room, she herself heading in the opposite direction moments later…

******

The winding, twisting turning corridors of the Baikonur Cosmodrome had been heavily expanded on since it had been selected by Sergei Korolev as the site for the launching of the world’s first artificial satellite Sputnik 1. Since those days the facility and the closed city of Leninsk built to support it had both been expanded upon. The Cosmodrome itself was now largely underground, with only the launch pads being aboveground, this decision had originated following Zarya 12 flight to Jupiter where humanity had come face-to-face with extraterrestrial life in the form of the Jovians.

Following the revelation that said extraterrestrial life was far from friendly, the Soviet government and their allies in the United Kingdom and the Western Alliance had all scrambled to secure their major spaceports from possible aerial—or worse, orbital—attack. Currently the facility was virtually a small city unto itself, capable of housing hundreds, if not thousands, of personnel.

Rounding the corner, Venera came to a stop a set of heavy doors, holding up her pass to the guards on duty. Saluting, they stepped aside and let her pass, stepping through the large doors into an even larger space that resembled an aircraft hangar. Heavy loading machines buzzed about, forklifts moving heavy crates around as various technicians moved about, some holding strange, alien devices.

Dominating the space was a large silvery disk. Nearly featureless, its surface glinted like mercury in the lights, it almost-pristine form cracked and broken, as if it had violently collided with a sold object, leaving part of its edge warped and deformed. But despite that difference it was an exact copy of the alien spacecraft seen by Venera during the artificial reality simulation.

Pausing, Venera set her hands on her hips, absently leaning on one of the crates scattered about the room as she examined the strange object, her gaze being drawn to the crate she leaned against, the slightly-faded lettering stamped on its side still legible in the bright overhead lights.

**PROPERTY OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY**

The Jovian craft had crashed on Earth in 1947 in the small town of Roswell in the U.S. state of New Mexico. The downed craft and its deceased crew had been taken by the United States Army. But, unable to decipher its secrets, the Americans had largely left it to languish in a military base for the better part of twenty years. It had only been the revelation of the existence of the Jovians by Venera herself and the crew of the Zarya 12 spacecraft five years prior that the United States government had finally come clean about the existence of the craft to the world.

Such a revelation had caused an international scandal, but had also later strengthened the ties between the Soviet-dominated Eastern Bloc and the American-dominated Western Alliance in the wake of an attempted covert invasion by Jovian forces in the isolated Californian community of Santa Mira. Unlike the Americans, the British and the Soviets had managed to decipher the secrets of the Jovian saucer, and using this knowledge a combined American-Soviet force had driven the Jovians off the planet. As a result, the Jovians had swiftly changed tactics. Rather than trying to assault Earth through covert means they had instead declared open war, one of their ships striking at the lunar settlement of New Leningrad only a month after the Santa Mira Incident.

Pushing off the crate, Venera crossed the bustling room, absently grabbing a technician and asking for the location of Dr. Korolev. Following the directions, she found him supervising a small crane being used to lower a car-sized cement block into place.

“Vasily,” Venera called.

Turning, Vasily Korolev smiled widely as she saw her. He was shorter than her, but his long thin body bellied this difference in height, his black hair was unkempt, as if he hadn’t bothered to comb it that morning, and he had the beginnings of a beard as if he had forgotten to shave that morning as well, while under his rumpled lab coat a well-worn Beatles t-shirt could be seen. Despite his disheveled appearance he was the brains of Soyuzcosmos and had been the one to finally crack the so-called ‘Jovian code’ and reveal the workings of their advanced technology and without his help, Venera was certain that the Jovians would have conquered Earth a dozen times over by now.

“You wanted to see me?” Venera asked as she approached.

Smile widening as he saw her, Vasily eagerly beckoned her over, his enthusiasm was infectious and she found herself grinning as a result.

“Come, come, come look at this!” he enthused, holding out a ray pistol to her “I’ve managed to increase the output while maintaining the power levels,” he explained “as the Americans say, _‘more bang for your buck’_,” he gestured towards the massive concrete block “go ahead, try it” he grinned.

Taking the weapon from him, Venera aimed it at the block and pulled the trigger. A cone of concentric rings of blue-white light funneled out from the weapon, quickly boring through the concrete with ease. Stepping back from the glowing and steaming block, Venera gave the weapon an appreciative nod.

“Impressive,” she noted as she checked the power level, finding that it had only dropped by less than five percent. Pulling out the ray pistol she wore at her hip, she aimed it at the block as well and fired, a similar cone of energy funneling out but this time it only bored a third of the way through the block before the power meter began to flash bright red, indicating a major drop in power.

Comparing the two weapons, Venera smiled

“Very impressive,” she noted “how soon can you begin mass production?” she wondered.

“Any day now,” Vasily boasted, still grinning ear-to-ear like an excited child on Christmas morning “you can keep that one” he told her, nodding to the new weapon she still held.

“Thanks” she grinned, happily giving him her standard issue sidearm without complaint. Examining it, she smirked as she gave the weapon a little twirl like a gunslinger before holstering it, earning a hearty laugh from Vasily…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yuri Gagarin sadly died in a plane crash on March 27 1968 while test piloting the then-new MiG-15 fighter jet. Five weeks prior to his death he had been cleared to fly regular aircraft after being banned from further spaceflights following the death of his friend and fellow cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov on the failed Soyuz 1 mission on which Gagarin was one of the backup crew. Komaraov died due to a failure of the parachute on reentry, resulting in a fatal crash.
> 
> "Vasily" is the Russian equivalent of the name "Basil", while Sergei Korolev is often credited as the father of the Soviet space program, being given the codename 'the chief designer' by Soviet authorities.
> 
> The Baikonur Cosmodrome is the world's first and largest spaceport. Following the collapse of the USSR, the Cosmodrome is now in the territory of a foreign nation (Kazakhstan) as a result the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, leases the spaceport from the Kazakh government for a fixed rent of $115,000,000 US dollars every year until 2050, and as a result is the source of a long-standing dispute between the two countries. To reduce their reliance of the cosmodrome, Russia built the Vostochny Cosmodrome, which had its first successful launch on April 28 2016. As of 2019 there have been five launch attempts (all unmanned), four of which were successful.
> 
> Santa Mira, California was the name of the fictional setting of the original "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"


	4. The World of Tommorw

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter FOUR! Enjoy! :=)

******

The train gently swayed from side to side as it shot along the track. A modern high-speed maglev train, the Buran—the Russian for ‘snowstorm’—was intended to serve the entire Soviet Union, with its central hub located in Moscow. Currently only a third of the proposed extensions had been built, requiring passengers to transfer at certain points along the line, but despite this apparent setback the train was still a marvel of modern engineering.

One portion of the line that had been completed led from Kiev to Leningrad, which allowed cosmonauts living in Leningrad to reach the Baikonur Cosmodrome in a relatively short time; a matter of hours rather than days.

Seated on a bench seat in the observation car, Venera Markova turned the page on her copy of _Pravda_, absently checking her watch as she did so. Turning back to the paper, she skimmed through the stories, noting that there had been another food riot on the moon last night in the British colony of Victoria City, the article went on to explain that the riot had been smaller compared to those of the past and had ended peacefully with most of the rioters either being detained by colonial security or simply dispersing after a time.

Moving onto the next article, Venera couldn’t suppress a chuckle as she read that Aeroflot was again announcing that they would be expanding their fleet of Earth-to-Moon shuttles, something which they been saying for the past two years.

Setting aside the paper, Venera stood up and walked over to one of the windows, watching as the landscape sped past. While not as lavish as some of the similar high-speed maglev trains found in the Western Alliance, the Buran still had a fair share of amenities, these included a dining car and the aforementioned observation car. Of those two, the observation car appeared to be a favorite among passengers of the train, both first timers and regulars and was on typical day the most crowded out of all the cars on the twelve car train, with many passengers preferring to eat their meals there than rather in the cafeteria-style dining car.

Currently however, the observation car was sparsely populated, aside from Venera herself there were only four other people. An older man who was contentedly nursing a cup of coffee, and a couple and who Venera assumed to be their son, a young boy about four or five years old, while the couple it seemed were content to also watch the scenery pass by, the boy was exploring, his attention being clearly drawn to Venera, no doubt owing to her uniform.

The standard issue uniform for most modern cosmonauts resembled what appeared to be a drab olive green flight suit which bore the wearer’s rank on the shoulders, an assignment patch (if any) on the left shoulder, and the seal of Soyuzcosmos on the other arm, while a simple name patch on the right breast identified the wearer.

Despite its innocuous appearance, the uniform was a marvel of modern technology, and was fireproof (up to a certain point) and bulletproof against small arms fire, but the most incredible feature was the fact that, in an emergency, it could serve as a temporary spacesuit or other protection against hazardous environments, such as airborne toxins. A transparent hood tucked under the collar could be pulled up and over the head and serve as a helmet while a set of attached gloves were folded into pouches on the sleeves, both the gloves and the boots could be easily secured to the cuffs via a series of sealed double zippers, and with practice and training the whole affair could be secured in under two minutes.

The suit carried enough oxygen for twelve hours stored in a flat pack at the waist, but lacked any waste disposal capabilities, the idea behind its design being that it was intended only as a stopgap measure; the wearer would use it only until they could get to a safe environment or, at the very least, an actual spacesuit and as such was not strictly intended for exposure to a vacuum but instead for an environment where there was no oxygen or very low oxygen levels. If the wearer was exposed to a vacuum they would find themselves with their arms and legs outstretched unable to move as the suit ballooned up, despite that Venera knew from personal experience that a wearer could survive in such a state.

Turning to her young admirer, Venera smiled at the boy as he peered up at her curiously.

“Are you a robot?” he asked.

Realizing that he was looking at her prosthetic arms, Venera chuckled.

“Am I robot?” she repeated, smiling as she crouched down to his level “do I look like a robot?” she asked.

The boy shook his head.

“No”

“Then I’m probably not a robot,” Venera smiled. She rolled her sleeve back, holding up her arm “I’m a cyborg” she grinned, flexing her arm as the boy stared, fascinated until his mother called him over. Waving goodbye, Venera went back to staring out the window at the rapidly-darkening landscape…

******

**Leningrad Station  
Leningrad, Russian Soviet Socialist Republic**

Stepping off the platform at the Leningrad Station, Venera swiped her ID card through the turnstile. First issued to citizens starting in 1950, the card was a general-use, all-purpose form of identification. Issued to most citizens born after 1950 at birth, the car was intended to serve the user throughout their lifetime, serving as a form of photo ID, a divers’ license, a domestic passport, membership card to the Party (if the user was a member), access to healthcare, and even as a payment card linked to the user’s bank account. This last feature had resulted in the gradual elimination of physical currency in the USSR, since citizens born after 1950 now had a bank account started in their name from birth and adult holders could simply have the card linked to their account, the majority of transactions in the USSR were accomplished electronically.

Despite that, currency was still produced, as some transactions—in particular those made in the Western Alliance—could not be done electronically owing to differences in banking systems, additionally many people it seemed still preferred to have cash on hand for emergencies, preferring the certainty of something physical that they could hold and feel.

Swiping her card through another reader, she entered the parking lot and found her car. Although most Soviet citizens now owned a car, public transport was still encouraged as part of a growing movement to reduce environmental damage as well as reducing congestion on roads, despite that a car was still useful as it allowed the owner to go where public transport didn’t and on their own schedule.

The compact VAZ-2101 which Venera drove wasn’t a luxurious executive car like those used by some members of the government, but it did its job efficiently and without complaint, which was all she needed. Settling in behind the wheel, she tossed her satchel in the passenger seat and then started up the car, the turbine engine humming to life. Another modern marvel, the turbine engine was two hundred pounds lighter than an older piston-driven engine, did not require antifreeze, a radiator, cooling system, connecting rods, or crankshaft, and could run on a variety of fuel sources, from standard unleaded gasoline to alcohol to furnace oil, to even more exotic substances such as peanut oil, soybean oil, and even perfume.

Personally Venera preferred using alcohol, although the designers claimed that the performance of the vehicle didn’t change no matter what kind of fuel was used, she always found that the engine seemed to run smoother and quieter on alcohol than with gasoline or any of the other substances mentioned above.

Merging with the evening traffic, she turned onto her street and pulled up to her apartment building, parking in the parking garage in the next building. Climbing out, she shivered slightly in the evening chill and hurried to get inside, bypassing the elevator as always, the elevator worked fine, she just preferred the stairs, her apartment was only on the second floor and plus bionic legs didn’t get sore muscles after all.

Stepping onto her floor, she waved to a few of her neighbors, grinning as old Mr. Chekov straightened his tie.

“Hoping to meet some lovely ladies tonight?” Venera asked with an ever-widening grin.

“Not hoping, dear girl,” Mr. Chekov replied “_knowing_ that I’ll meet some lovely ladies tonight” he leaned in and gave her a suggestive wink.

“Hmm, if only you were ten years younger,” Venera replied teasingly “but, as it is…” she trailed off with a shrug. They’d played this game every time they met it seemed, he would harmlessly flirt with her and she would shoot him down. He meant no harm she knew, he was just an old man enjoying life and all it had to offer.

Finishing with his tie, Mr. Chekov threw his scarf over his shoulder as if deeply insulted (he wasn’t).

“You young people, no respect for your elders” he declared, continuing the game.

Venera mimed as if wounded by his accusation and suddenly feeling faint as a result, putting a hand on her head and swooning in a rather effective display she thought. Laughing heartily at her antics, Mr. Chekov rang for the elevator, tipping his hat at her as he stepped inside the car.

“Good night, dear girl” he called.

“Good night” Venera called back as the doors slid shut. Unlocking her own apartment, she stepped inside, the lights coming on automatically as the door shut behind her. The apartment was small but comfortable, arranged in the form a single room divided into a small kitchenette and living area that could double as both a bedroom and a dining room. Unlike the _ khrushchyovka_ built under Nikita Khrushchev, these newer dwellings had an attached bathroom for each apartment, and were available in a variety of sizes, ranging from small, single occupancy units like Venera’s to larger, multi-room units for families.

The furnishings were generally left to the residents, but a stove, refrigerator, combined washer and dryer, and a telescreen were included as standard features. Moving to said refrigerator, Venera found the milk and, opening the bottle, downed a healthy gulp. Nudging the door shut with her hip, she moved to the wall-mounted telescreen and turned it on before settling down onto the sofa, which in her case folded out into a bed.

The telescreen combined the functions of a television set with a telephone and a general purpose computer, linked to the nationwide computer network it could provide access to everything from the latest television program to the news, to access to government files (provided one had the proper access for the latter).

Realizing that she’d finished the milk, Venera made a mental note to get some more in the morning before catching her train. Setting the empty bottle aside, she grabbed the keyboard on the side table and set it down in her lap and began typing, pulling up a newsfeed, a news anchor for TASS appearing on the screen.

“_…on Venus today a conflict between the two major Venusian city-states erupted into open combat. Warriors from both sides clashed in the streets as civilians fled into the surrounding wildlands_”

Standing up, Venera smirked as she listened to the rest of the broadcast. The discovery that beneath the swirling thick clouds of Venus was a hot, tropical environment teeming with life had come after the encounter with the Jovians and had been somewhat anti-climactic, due in large part to the vast differences between the two. While the Jovians predominantly resembled Humans and had advanced technology including spaceflight, the Venusians were a late-Iron Age society in terms of technology, having only recently developed a version of the flintlock firearm. Anatomically, the average Venusian shared similarities to Earthly birds, although humanoid in appearance, they possessed a series of barb-like quills on their bodies in place of hair, a beak-like mouth and sharp talons, and hollow bones. They also laid and hatched from eggs but nursed their young, developing familiar units similar to Humans.

From a cultural standpoint, the Venusians were arranged in a variety of city-states of varying levels of development, some were small villages still living a stone age existence and others lived in feudal societies which possessed—and used—the flintlock weapons to deadly advantage.

Following the discovery of life on Venus, the nations of Earth had scrambled to open relations with the natives, desperate for allies against the Jovians. Most of the leaders of the more advanced Venusian city-states had agreed in exchange for medical supplies or—more frequently—technology that could be used against their perceived enemies. Despite that, relations between the two planets was fairly stable, the Jovians had apparently come to Venus several centuries ago and had enslaved a majority of the native population before leaving for unknown reasons. As such the Venusians were eager to assist anyone who opposed the Jovians.

Finding some chicken in the fridge, Venera set about gathering a pan and some ingredients as the new changed to a story about the growing robots’ rights movement. Since the development of the first robots through the marvel of the positronic brain, scientists were increasingly amazed at the level of autonomy and free will that robots constantly displayed, no matter how many times the positronic brain was rewired and rebuilt, robots continued to display varying degrees of autonomy.

Finally, in desperation to solve the problem, most nations enacted a series of new laws that were built upon the idea of indentured service. A robot, once purchased, would work for their owner for a length of time (usually a year) before being granted independence (and in some cases citizenship), after which a robot could be retained by their former owner (for a steady wage) or go and pursue a life for their own.

The end result was about fifty-fifty, some robots, if treated well, developed a sense of loyally towards their owners, and remained in service for a modest wage, while others happily went out into the world to seek a life for themselves, one of Venera’s teachers in school had been one of the latter, and her neighbors two doors down were a ‘family’ of robots.

Finished gathering the ingredients, Venera put aside thoughts of robots and Venusians and began to cook dinner…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Transportation in the Soviet Union was one hell of a mixed bag, plagued by an outdated infrastructure, corruption, lack of investments, unpredictable weather, and just bad decision making on the part of the authorities. There were very few paved roads outside of the cities and the automobile industry grew faster then the roads, resulting in only 0.8 percent of the county's population owning a car and , as a result, a growing demand for public transport, leading to the Soviet merchant fleet being one the largest in the world at the time, and the cars themselves were often very basic but, despite the common perception in the West, weren't strictly lemons, they got you from point A to point B in relative comfort and safety.
> 
> Civil aviation was monopolized in the form of Aeroflot (the largest civil airline in the world at the time), which was responsible for everything from to civilian flights, to cargo transport and even transporting political prisoners to the gulags (Aeroflot still exists to this day, as the flag-carrier of the Russian Federation, the name just means 'air fleet' in the English).
> 
> Housing in the Soviet Union were equally as mixed, the infamous five story apartment blocks named khrushchyovka after Nikita Khrushchev were built with the bare minimum, elevators were seen as too costly to maintain and install and Soviet height restrictions limited the block to only five stories for buildings without elevators, the bathrooms were combined and often had four foot long 'sitting' bathtubs and some designers even suggested including the toilet in the shower's sink to further save space (this wasn't used thankfully) and while the apartments were intended for small families it wasn't uncommon to have three or four generations living in a 472 square foot two-room apartment and later designs made them even smaller, some apartments had a 'luxurious' extra room intended for storage but sometimes used a spare bedroom, albeit with no window or ventilation.
> 
> TASS was the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union, the main television news agency for the USSR and remains as such for the modern-day Russian Federation and is one of the largest news agencies in the world alongside Reuters, the Associated Press, and the Agence France-Presse.
> 
> In 1964 Chrysler experimented with a turbine powered car, although it performed as well as a regular piston-driven engine, held up surprisingly well, and required little maintenance, the relatively poor fuel economy and failure to meet US government emissions standards prevented it from becoming the new standard for cars

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you thought :=)


End file.
